PETERSBURG, VA. – The Chowan Volleyball team opened CIAA play with a pair of straight sets victories at the CIAA Round Up hosted by Virginia State on Saturday.
THE BASICS
FINAL | Chowan 3, St. Augustine's 0 (25-18, 25-22, 25-18)
FINAL | Chowan 3, Fayetteville State 0 (25-23, 25-22, 25-22)
RECORDS | Chowan 2-3 (2-0), St. Augustine's 0-5 (0-2), Fayetteville State 0-6 (0-1)
LOCATION | Petersburg, Va. (VSU Multisport Complex)
INSIDE THE BOXSCORES
Sydney Hiner posted her first collegiate double-double with 11 kills and 10 digs in the win against St. Augustine's. Hiner also tallied six service aces. The freshman would follow up her performance with a 17 dig outing in the win against Fayetteville State.
Kayla Gates and Courtney O'Keefe tallied nine kills each in the second match. Milicia Vejnovic posted eight kills as well.
Micayla Pope posted 47 assists in the double-dip. Alyssa Born recorded 25 digs on the afternoon.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Chowan 3, St. Augustine's 0
First Set:
The match would start off with a kill by Milica Vejnovic. Following a kill by Sydney Hiner, the Hawks would push the lead to 8-4 with back-to-back aces by Hiner.
St. Augustine's would fight back to knot the match at 7-all but a block by Micayla Pope and Courtney O'Keefe gave the Hawks the lead back.
Attacking errors allowed the Hawks to maintain their lead as five of the final six points of the contest were awarded to the Hawks via the error. Breona Young posted the final kill of the set for the Hawks to take the set 25-18.
Second Set:
St. Augustine's put the Hawks on their heels in the set leading 14-9. Chowan hit .000 in the set with 10 kills and 10 errors.
Three service aces and a kill by Sydney Hiner would allow the Hawks to force a timeout by the Falcons, knotted up at 16-all.
Courtney O'Keefe and Sydney Hiner would push the slim lead to 20-18. The Falcons looked to swing the momentum in the set closing the gap to 23-21. But an attack error and a kill by Breona Young ended the set for the Hawks 25-22.
Third Set:
Chowan opened the final set on an 8-3 run. Kayla Gates started the scoring with a kill before back-to-back aces by Sydney Hiner continued the attack. Milica Vejnovic, Courtney O'Keefe and Alyssa Born recorded a kill in the run.
St. Augustine's would call a timeout trailing 11-5. The Hawks would push the advantage to 17-8 as four errors by the Falcons aided the run.
Two kills by Kayla Gates helped the Hawks to a 22-12 lead. The Falcons would close the gap to 24-18 on four errors by the Hawks. Sydney Hiner finished off the match with a kill.
Chowan 3, Fayetteville State 0
First Set:
The opening set would swap back and forth with neither team gaining an advantage until an error by the Broncos allowed the Hawks to lead 15-13.
A kill by Courtney O'Keefe and Breona Young forced a timeout by the Broncos. Milica Vejnovic gave the Hawks their largest lead, 22-18, with a kill before the Broncos made a run to close the gap to 22-21 and forced a CU timeout.
A service error and an attack error allowed the Hawks to take the set 25-23.
Second Set:
The Broncos would open the second set with a 12-8 lead before the Hawks would rally back to take the lead 15-14. Breona Young, Kayla Gates, and Milica Vejnovic aided the run to take the lead and force a timeout.
Leading hitter for the Broncos, Chynna Hunt, would put the Broncos in front, 19-18, but an error by Hunt and two service aces by Milica Vejnovic took the lead 21-19.
Two attacking errors by the Broncos pushed the set in favor of the Hawks, 25-22.
Third Set:
Fayetteville State led the third set 6-3 and would maintain their lead until a late rally by the Hawks.
The teams would even the match at 14, 15, 18, 19, 20, and 22 with the Hawks keeping a one point lead.
Breona Young and Sydney Hiner posted kills to force a FSU timeout leading 22-21. Out of the timeout, the Broncos would even the set at 22-all but a kill by Young and Kayla Gates pushed the set to match point. An attack error by the Broncos allowed the Hawks to take the set and match.
UP NEXT
Chowan returns to the court on Sunday, September 9 against Claflin (10am) and Shaw (1pm) in the final day of the CIAA Round Up I.
